Residents in Rayleigh, Essex, will see changes to their bus travel on Sunday, 1 March 2026, due to the Chelmsford Half Marathon. According to First Bus, the X30 service will be diverted as major roads in the city centre close to make way for the race.
Major road closures will be in place from 05:00 until 13:00 to allow thousands of runners to use the streets safely. While the route from Rayleigh towards Stansted Airport will run as normal, the return journey towards Southend will be redirected away from the usual roads.
Buses heading towards Rayleigh will not serve the Army & Navy stop and will instead take a longer route using the A12 and A130. There will also be short traffic holds of roughly 25 minutes between 08:50 and 09:15 on Parkway and New London Road to allow participants to cross.
Travel times are expected to be longer than usual, and passengers are advised to check for live updates before they leave. Normal traffic is expected to return once the race finishes at the Anglia Ruskin University campus and the roads are reopened in the afternoon.
